Match Day Programme: Central Coast Mariners vs Wellington Phoenix

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COACH UPDATE

WITH HEAD COACH, UFUK TALAY

On the Mariners Improvement Central Coast have had a good start to their season; they’re very disciplined, they’re on a high at the moment and we need to be disciplined and organised when we have the ball – and when we don’t have the ball - when we’re playing them.

It’s very important that we go to Central Coast and we come back with the win - this is one of those games where we need to rise from the ashes.

On preparing for this match We’ll make a few tweaks to the lineup for this match; we’ll bring in players with attributes that

we think can hurt Central Coast, they’re a very compact and disciplined team and they get behind the ball and rely on their defensive efforts to win the game.

We have two areas of focus coming into this match: defending the counter-attack and being clinical in front of goal.

We conceded two goals against the Jets last match, so obviously defending the counter-attack is something we need to improve on and we will.

is one of those “ This games where we need

“

Wellington Phoenix Head Coach, Ufuk Talay, discusses the team’s plan of attack heading into tonight’s match versus the Central Coast Mariners.

to rise from the ashes.

We had 65% possession against Newcastle and we had a lot of the ball – it’s also when you’re most vulnerable so we’ve focussed on this leading up to the Mariners game tonight.

We also need to improve on being clinical in front of goal and at the same time - whilst we’re in possession - our set-up when we lose the ball.

Goals win you games; the opportunities you create when you score, that builds confidence in the players to continue the work that they’re doing. Sometimes it can be frustrating when you create opportunities and not score.

I’m pleased with the opportunities that we as a team create, and now we just need to be clinical - with the way that we play, if we are clinical then we will win games.

On Looking Ahead It’s exciting now to have a run of games coming up in February.

Games are important, players need to play in games and to be challenged in an environment where they’re constantly thinking, so I’m pleased to have this run of games coming up to help us build consistency and momentum.

If we get a good result tonight and get a win, it’ll help build confidence in the players too.

This is important for the following away matches against Sydney FC and then the Mariners again.

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YOUR 2020/21 WELLINGTON PHOENIX SQUAD #1

GK

#2

DEF

STEFAN MARINOVIC

#5

DEF

LIAM MCGING

#6

# 10

DAVID BALL

# 14

# 15

#4

MID

MID

# 11

#8

FWD

MIRZA MURATOVIC

# 16

# 12

MID

MATTHEW RIDENTON

DEF

LOUIS FENTON

MID

CAMERON DEVLIN

JAUSHUA SOTIRIO

FWD

DEF

TE ATAWHAI HUDSON-WIHONGI

RENO PISCOPO

ULISES DAVILA

MID

ALEX RUFER

#7

TIM PAYNE

FWD

DEF

LUKE DEVERE

DEF

JAMES MCGARRY

#9

#3

# 17

FWD

TOMER HEMED

YOUR 2020/21 WELLINGTON PHOENIX SQUAD # 18

FWD

# 19

BEN WAINE

# 23

DEF

# 20

SAM SUTTON

GK

# 21

OLIVER SAIL

DEF

JOSHUA LAWS

MID

CLAYTON LEWIS

COACH UFUK TALAY

1

GK

14 DANIEL BOUMAN

MID

3 LEWIS MILLER

DEF

15 KYE ROWLES

DEF

4 JOSHUA NISBET

MID

19 MATT SIMON

FOR

5 STEFAN NIGRO

DEF

20 ADAM PEARCE

GK

6 GIANNI STENSNESS

MID

21 RUON TONGYIK

DEF

7 STEFAN JANKOVIC

MID

22 MICHAL JANOTA

FOR

8 OLIVER BOZANIC

MID

23 DAN HALL

DEF

10 DANIEL DESILVA

MID

25 MATT HATCH

DEF

11 JACK CLISBY

DEF

26 JADEN CASELLA

MID

12 MARCOS URENA

FOR

29 ALOU KUOL

FOR

MARK BIRIGHITTI

MATCH PREVIEW: WELLINGTON PHOENIX TO FACE SURPRISING MARINERS SQUAD The Wellington Phoenix take on a surprising Central Coast Mariners squad tonight, as they look to get on track by picking up their first win of the season.

match suspension, but the team will have to wait further – possibly the following match versus Sydney FC – for Reno Piscopo’s longawaited season debut.

In three matches this season, the Phoenix have suffered narrow losses to Sydney FC and Newcastle Jets – despite dominating play for the majority of both these matches - and drew 1-1 with Macarthur FC in a contentious match that featured Alex Rufer being sent off thanks to a dubious red card.

Wellington Phoenix centre back, Luke DeVere, says he knows the squad has to improve defensively against Central Coast – and he believes they can make the adjustments necessary.

Wellington will welcome the return of Rufer to the line-up for this match following his one-

“If you look at the two goals we gave up [versus Newcastle] they’re

“There’s definite some positives there [from our last match] so if we can tighten things up that’ll put us in good stead,” says DeVere.

both from counterattacks, the Macarthur goal from the other week is a similar sort of thing in those transition moments – that’s probably what’s hurt us most in recent weeks.

“But again that’s something that’s quite preventable and we can address this quite easily, so hopefully we can cut those sort of opportunities out for the opposition in the future.”

Those sentiments were echoed by Phoenix captain Ulises Davila.

“We have to improve and it’s the job of everyone in the team to try to avoid these goals and to also score the options we create,” says Davila.

“The new players in our squad are doing well, you can see them working hard in training and we all just have trust in the process – as

well as the coach, club and the staff – and fix a few things up so we can get back on track.”

The Central Coast Mariners currently sit second on the A-League ladder after four matches played, with wins over the Newcastle Jets, Macarthur FC and Sydney FC; their only loss coming against Western Sydney Wanderers in Match Week 4.

The Mariner’s win versus Sydney FC stands out as their most impressive as it was their first away win in seven years against them; another sure sign this squad has turned a corner since last season’s bottom-place finish.

Much of the Mariner’s success comes down to their goalkeeper, Mark Birighitti, who has made 14 saves this season and keep a remarkable three clean sheets in their four matches.

Goal scoring continues to be an issue for Central Coast though, with the team averaging one goal per match – although 19-year-old forward Alou Kuol has netted two of those goals.

DeVere says that given Central Coast’s surprise improvement this season, the Phoenix are under no illusion that their match versus Central Coast will be “a tough game” – and that the hungry Nix squad are more than up for the challenge.

“We’re desperate for points now and we want to get a win under our belts, so it should be a good game.”

Wellington Phoenix takes on Central Coast Mariners tonight at Central Coast Stadium from 4.05pm AEDT (6.05pm NZT).

Did You Know?

• Wellington Phoenix have won their last five A-League matches against the Mariners; a sixth consecutive win against them would equal the Phoenix club record for most consecutive wins against a single opponent (6 vs Newcastle Jets from 2010 to 2012).

• Central Coast have won only one of their past 10 matches at Central Coast Stadium (D2, L7) and have lost their last two home matches against the Wellington Phoenix.

• Wellington currently sits first equal in passing accuracy with 84%; Central Coast Mriners ranks last in the competition in this category at 75%.

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